That man is such an unrecognized wellspring of deep truths. Its a shame that the western genre has been all but abandoned by western men. I'll forever grateful to my Grandpa and my father for introducing me to his work, as I hope my son will feel the same. He was an exemplar of how masculinity can still exist in the modern world.
Maybe the Fall of Babel will be when The Tower of False Light, cell towers, fall down and are replaced with the true light of interdimensional, interpersonal telepathy.
I also hope the end of history will look more like The Lord of the Rings or Conan. Crom!
PS Nice work - I like how you tie together abstract concepts in a meaningful, introspective way.
“We are more comfortable with AI and robots than we are with dragons. But maybe “The Matrix” will just be the end of our own little cycle, and at the true end of the world the old monsters will rise out of the outer darkness, out of the chthonic waters for one last curtain call.”
Another great article, Andrew, and much to think about! By the way, I would love to hear your thoughts on the mythopoieia in Dan Davis’s “Godborn”, if you have read it.
I think these kinds of archetypes and ideas could be important materials with which to rebuild our culture. On optimistic days I believe that perhaps we're planting the acorns which will eventually grow into oaks (or at least we're watering already-planted acorns).
>Belief in the Eschaton, or a final Ragnarök, is what sets Christianity apart from other worldviews. The belief in a final, macrocosmic end.
Well. . . kind of. Yes, Christians do believe in a "final, macrocosmic end." But that does not mean that we believe history is strictly linear. Or, at least, most Christians don't seem to have thought that way until the Enlightenment.
Historically, the church viewed the "end times" as being. . . now. Today. The period between Christ's First Advent (cir. 1 AD) and Second Advent (cir. TBD). The Apocalypse of John is not a single, linear narrative covering some definite period of time (the length of which varies depending upon the account) leading up to and including the "macrocosmic end". It is a series of seven cycles that describe the conditions that obtain during the entire Church Age, including seven repeated and cumulative visions of the "macrocosmic end." The focus of each successive cycle shifts from "this present evil age" to "the life of the world to come," thus getting more abstract, monumental, and spiritual.
Consider Matt. 24 & 25. The disciples asked him when the temple would be destroyed and what the signs would be for the end of the age. They may have been conflating the two in their minds, but Jesus draws a clear distinction between them. From Matt 24:1-35, Jesus speaks of "those days." He appears to be speaking directly to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, responding to their first question. It is a day of great judgment, darkness, and doom. But it is not The End. In Matt. 24:36, he begins "But of that day and hour, no one knows. . . ." The rest of the passage is a description of the final judgment, when all things will be concluded.
Turning back to Revelation, yes, there will be one, final, "Day of the Lord." But there have been many "days of the Lord," and presumably will be many more. Yes, there will be one, final, "Antichrist," but there have been many "Antichrists," and presumably will be many more. Lots of bad and catastrophic things will happen. Happen all the time. And for the individual, a distinction between, "The end of the world as we know it," and "the ultimate end of the world" may be one without a practical difference.
Insightful. Your comment on Thor defeating Jörmungandr as the eschaton stayed with me last night. The ouroboros is the World-Soul, not to be confused with the Spirit of This World, and it's actually when he removes his tail from his maw that his poison enters into the world. The cyclical nature of our world is released, so to speak, and the Thunderer brings it to an end.
We often associate the killing of the serpent as the vanquishing of evil, but haven't our technological advances been attempts to kill the world, through lightning and metal, as a means to end our perceived suffering? Perhaps the brute force of Thor is, in fact, closer to the Antichrist?
I don't think I agree. I know the gnostics correlated the Ouroboros with the world-soul. But I wonder if that is subversive. We see it as eternal or even a necessary evil because we cannot fathom a cosmos before the fall.
The gnostics are one source for this connection, but it's even older than that. Plotinus, Proclus, Ficino, when they describe the World-Soul they envision it "encircling the heavens and moving in a circle." I'm not sure if that's a subversion, because the ending of this harmony is the moment of destruction; the poison comes from Jörmungandr only when he releases his tail, ending the encircling of the heavens. But I'm also less familiar with Ragnarök than you.
"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning."
-- Louis L'Amour
That man is such an unrecognized wellspring of deep truths. Its a shame that the western genre has been all but abandoned by western men. I'll forever grateful to my Grandpa and my father for introducing me to his work, as I hope my son will feel the same. He was an exemplar of how masculinity can still exist in the modern world.
Maybe the Fall of Babel will be when The Tower of False Light, cell towers, fall down and are replaced with the true light of interdimensional, interpersonal telepathy.
I also hope the end of history will look more like The Lord of the Rings or Conan. Crom!
PS Nice work - I like how you tie together abstract concepts in a meaningful, introspective way.
Interesting how I just had a thought and posted a note on this same exact thing right before stumbling across this.
I also see you may be Orthodox? (I saw the icon and the theology)
Does the Substack Algorithm actually work?
“We are more comfortable with AI and robots than we are with dragons. But maybe “The Matrix” will just be the end of our own little cycle, and at the true end of the world the old monsters will rise out of the outer darkness, out of the chthonic waters for one last curtain call.”
Another great article, Andrew, and much to think about! By the way, I would love to hear your thoughts on the mythopoieia in Dan Davis’s “Godborn”, if you have read it.
Well there will be a time when the current interglacial ends and we plunge back into the ice.
I think these kinds of archetypes and ideas could be important materials with which to rebuild our culture. On optimistic days I believe that perhaps we're planting the acorns which will eventually grow into oaks (or at least we're watering already-planted acorns).
https://jmpolemic.substack.com/p/two-weeks-in
>Belief in the Eschaton, or a final Ragnarök, is what sets Christianity apart from other worldviews. The belief in a final, macrocosmic end.
Well. . . kind of. Yes, Christians do believe in a "final, macrocosmic end." But that does not mean that we believe history is strictly linear. Or, at least, most Christians don't seem to have thought that way until the Enlightenment.
Historically, the church viewed the "end times" as being. . . now. Today. The period between Christ's First Advent (cir. 1 AD) and Second Advent (cir. TBD). The Apocalypse of John is not a single, linear narrative covering some definite period of time (the length of which varies depending upon the account) leading up to and including the "macrocosmic end". It is a series of seven cycles that describe the conditions that obtain during the entire Church Age, including seven repeated and cumulative visions of the "macrocosmic end." The focus of each successive cycle shifts from "this present evil age" to "the life of the world to come," thus getting more abstract, monumental, and spiritual.
Consider Matt. 24 & 25. The disciples asked him when the temple would be destroyed and what the signs would be for the end of the age. They may have been conflating the two in their minds, but Jesus draws a clear distinction between them. From Matt 24:1-35, Jesus speaks of "those days." He appears to be speaking directly to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, responding to their first question. It is a day of great judgment, darkness, and doom. But it is not The End. In Matt. 24:36, he begins "But of that day and hour, no one knows. . . ." The rest of the passage is a description of the final judgment, when all things will be concluded.
Turning back to Revelation, yes, there will be one, final, "Day of the Lord." But there have been many "days of the Lord," and presumably will be many more. Yes, there will be one, final, "Antichrist," but there have been many "Antichrists," and presumably will be many more. Lots of bad and catastrophic things will happen. Happen all the time. And for the individual, a distinction between, "The end of the world as we know it," and "the ultimate end of the world" may be one without a practical difference.
Agreed- that’s all what this essay is about if you read further
I read the whole thing.
This is very thought provoking and will have to ruminate on it a bit.
One scenario I thought I would add, as seen in those proposing alternative histories, is the idea that the second coming of Christ has already passed.
Another would be that we have fractured onto multiple timelines. Does this mean in the end all timelines come together?
As I'm sure many of your readers are as I am routing for an LOTR ending. I will third (or fourth) that notion.
Good work done here. The fractal aspect is a good idea. It may include individual human developments as well.
Insightful. Your comment on Thor defeating Jörmungandr as the eschaton stayed with me last night. The ouroboros is the World-Soul, not to be confused with the Spirit of This World, and it's actually when he removes his tail from his maw that his poison enters into the world. The cyclical nature of our world is released, so to speak, and the Thunderer brings it to an end.
We often associate the killing of the serpent as the vanquishing of evil, but haven't our technological advances been attempts to kill the world, through lightning and metal, as a means to end our perceived suffering? Perhaps the brute force of Thor is, in fact, closer to the Antichrist?
As to Thor, I see what you're getting at but again I don't think subverting the pattern like that leads to truth
I don't think I agree. I know the gnostics correlated the Ouroboros with the world-soul. But I wonder if that is subversive. We see it as eternal or even a necessary evil because we cannot fathom a cosmos before the fall.
The gnostics are one source for this connection, but it's even older than that. Plotinus, Proclus, Ficino, when they describe the World-Soul they envision it "encircling the heavens and moving in a circle." I'm not sure if that's a subversion, because the ending of this harmony is the moment of destruction; the poison comes from Jörmungandr only when he releases his tail, ending the encircling of the heavens. But I'm also less familiar with Ragnarök than you.
Very interesting. All is revealed as the veil falls.
Great thought and wisdom has gone into this article. Thank you. I will think on it.
I certainly was not drawing a distinction between them, what distinction do you mean?